Roger Macnamara and his family own a 300-acre parcel of property along Florida's Kissimmee River. Concerned about people camping on the riverbank and leaving trash, they built a fence to protect the property in 1991. The Kissimmee River Valley Sportsman's Association, a group of air boaters, then sued the Macnamaras, claiming that the fence prevented them from using land that was owned by the state.

The property had been in the Macnamara family since Mrs. Macnamara's great grandfather bought the land in 1901. But the Sportsman's Association decided to take advantage of the state's efforts to reassert control over millions of acres of privately-owned land that it claims it sold in error.

Although most of the land in dispute is never under water, a low area behind the fence periodically floods during the rainy season. According to the Sierra Club, which represented the Sportsman's Association in the case, the flooded area turns the portion of the Macnamaras' land temporarily cut off from the shore into an "island" in the river. Since all islands in state-owned rivers also belong to the state, the Macnamaras would thus have no right to fence this so-called island off. A state court agreed and ruled for the Sportsman's Association.
Source: Randall Holcombe